Two Harvey Norman staff members have detailed how the retail giant would reimburse multi-hour meetings with pizza, and refuse to pay overtime on mandatory cross-country training trips that stretched out longer than expected, as New Zealand's unpaid overtime controversy expands in size and scope.
1 NEWS has spoken to two former Harvey Norman staffers, including ex-salesperson, Natalia Carson, who worked for over three years, starting in 2014, in their two Palmerston North stores.
Ms Carson said once a month, on average, she and her sales colleagues were asked to attend product knowledge training sessions that lasted one-to-two hours, which were reimbursed only with a free dinner.
"Most of the time they won't pay you and they'll just shout you a dinner. It's generally like pizza or something like that," Ms Carson said.
"It will go from the end of work till like 7-7.30pm. It’s like a training on a brand or a product, so we’re selling a washing machine or a computer or whatever the product is they train you on them and they shout you a dinner."
Another Harvey Norman ex-staff, named Cindy, worked in their Mount Maunganui store for three years as a PA and salesperson in the bedding department. She left her job three months ago.
Cindy voluntarily raised the same issue of unpaid mandatory product knowledge training sessions.
"Maybe four-to-six times a year we might have a product knowledge evening, and that could be anywhere from two to four hours depending on what we were learning," Cindy told 1 NEWS.
"If it was something big, you know like obviously for mattresses and things like that, then it would be a pretty long session that we would have to be there for that was also unpaid. We got fed a pizza for dinner. We didn't get paid for it."
Responding to these claims, Harvey Norman said they were "reviewing the situation" and the company "doesn't have any further comment".
Cindy also alleged all workers in the Mount Maunganui store were required to go on a work trip to Auckland to visit a bedding manufacturer.
"That was paid for, between our working hours of nine and whatever our working hours were," Cindy says.
"But if we got back late for instance - which we often did - we'd get back late two or three hours, that obviously wasn't paid for, if we went over our hours."
Both Harvey Norman workers also alleged unpaid 15-minute morning meetings before the start of work at 8.45am each day were "absolutely" enforced.
"We were told things like 'you agreed in your contracts to work overpaid work outside your normal rostered house that you won't be getting paid for - like training and morning meetings'," Palmerston North staffer Ms Carson said.
"Some of us who were a bit naive at the time who didn't know our contracts well, were just like 'oh yeah OK, we've agreed to that, we've been told we've agreed to that so I guess we have, we won't question it'."
Cindy said: "It wouldn't be good enough if you were late to morning meeting, you’d definitely get rapped around the knuckles for it, or you'd be taken into the office and asked why you were late."
Cindy also said her decision to leave her job at Harvey Norman was pushed by her employer's refusal to giver her a pay rise from her minimum wage salary.
"Three times I asked for a pay rise and was laughed at, told I wasn’t good enough and all that sort of thing," Cindy said.
"There was always an excuse not to give me a pay rise, so that was the main reason for leaving."
1 NEWS has also been informed, by FIRST Union, that they have eceived 20 complaints from Harvey Norman workers about unpaid overtime.
Companies alleged to have enforced unpaid overtime grows
The number of New Zealand companies alleged to have enforced unpaid overtime has also grown, with a FIRST Union online worker complaint survey growing to over 1900 by May 30.
The new list of companies which FIRST Union says they've received employee complaints from include Harvey Norman, Whitcoulls, Max Fashions, Life Pharmacy, Jeans West and Hannahs.
Earlier, on May 16, FIRST Union named an initial batch of companies, whose workers complained about unpaid overtime , including Briscoes, Rebel Sport, The Warehouse, Countdown, Cotton On, Noel Leeming, Farmers, Kmart, and Warehouse Stationery.
FIRST union says they have called on, or are in the process of contacting, all the companies on both lists.
The nature of the staff complaints
FIRST Union told 1 NEWS the nature of staff complaints alleged included "expecting, and in some instances verbally asking or texting employees, to either stay back and work late for tasks such as cashing up or tidying up shop, or for work-related meetings for the purposes of customer and sales training.
"Some complaints are also in reference to an expectation, or verbal request for staff to come into work early, often 15-30 minutes to set up shop."
How companies responded to 1 NEWS over questions of unpaid overtime
Hannahs said they are "comfortable" they have met their obligations as employers, and as soon as the overtime issue broke in the media, they commenced a "comprehensive review" to check their obligations to workers are being met in every store. They have asked workers to make contact "through a suitable, safe channel" if they have not been paid appropriately.
Max Fashions executive director Simon West said they had not been contacted by FIRST.
However, Mr West admitted they have had "one salaried employee query their working hours (involving a 15 min weekly task) in the past six months which was addressed by clarifying her contractual obligations".
"We are not aware of any complaints being made in line with company process from waged employees over the past six months," he said.
Mr West said the manager of each Max Fashions store was responsible for ensuring the company's policy of paying workers for all hours. He added all franchises were reminded of this last month following the Smiths City court case .
Communications manager for Green Cross Health, Debbie Yardley, the primary health care company which operates Life Pharmacy , said they are not aware of any direct contact from FIRST, but admitted "it is possible that contact has been made with one or more, owners in our [franchise] group".
"We do have varying levels of equity in around 90 pharmacies across the group with the other 269 being owner-operated," Ms Yardley said.
Whitcoulls said they had no comment to make "at this stage".
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